Chapter 23

“Thanks, Agnes, see you later.”

I went to where David was trying to answer fifteen questions at once.

“David, we have a security screen. They’ll help us get out to the cars. I don’t think that we’re going to be able to answer everyone, or to make the fans happy, but we have to get out.”

He nodded so I went over to the leader of a very fierce looking group of guys.

“I believe that you’re going to help us get to our cars, lads. Can we do it without blood on the floor?”

“We’ve done this before, Miss Leigh. Just get your group behind our ‘Vee’ formation and we’ll have you outside, quick as a flash.”

I went to each of the others and told them to be ready to fall in behind the security guys when they moved. It was all too easy in the end. The security guys formed a ‘Vee’ and marched into the crowd, parting it like a ship’s prow. We were all in behind, and the airport police were behind us. We went through the terminal like a triangular wedge and arrived outside, where the cars were lined up. We didn’t have time to say cheerio to each other as we were bundled into the cars, our cases in the boots, along with the Oscars. A few reporters had cars and motorcycles that tried to keep up with us as we left, but there was a temporary police roadblock along the road, which let us flow through but stopped everyone else. We were allowed to get away.
The cars took us to our homes, with Jeff and I arriving at the house before the others. I left the gates open as we unloaded our cases and opened the door. Somehow, we had the Best Picture Oscar in the car boot. The others would have been secured by the winners. After the picture in immigration, I had lost track of where they were.

It was good to be home after the excitement and rush in America. One thing that was certain, now, and that was that the box office returns would go up for a few more months. The phone was ringing, so Jeff answered it. It was a reporter asking for a story, so he told the man that we had just got home, were tired and unable to string two words together. He ended the call and turned the base unit off. I was sure that when we turned our mobiles on, they would be full of messages.

We unpacked our things and took a full hamper through to the laundry where I started the washing. The coach with the other four arrived, having dropped everyone else off on the way. We had the kettle on, and made tea for us all, including the coach driver. The others took their cases to their rooms, then we sat in the kitchen and quietly had our tea. When the coach driver left, we brewed another pot and just relaxed. Larry broke the silence.

“I had never thought that I would be at an Oscar presentation, even though I wasn’t in the actual room, the atmosphere was amazing.”

“It was just as amazing in the room, Larry. At least you could get up and walk around. My bum was flat by the time I was dragged up when David won his Oscar.”

“What was it like to be up on that stage, Julia, with all those film stars applauding you?”

“You know, Ruth. I could hardly see them for the TV lights. I would say that many were only clapping out of politeness, as some would have liked to be there instead of me. We ended up bringing the Best Picture one home, by the way. I think that I’ll hang on to it until Agnes brings her crew, then I’ll take it to the office so they can show it off.”

“It’s very quiet.”

“Yes, Colin. The phone is off. Larry, can you take a while to get back to normal, then it’s your job to turn the base unit on and handle the incoming. Just make a note of the reporters and refer them to the agency. I’m pretty sure that Jim will organise a press conference. In the meantime, I’ll be in the office and will turn mine on. Then, I suppose, there’ll be emails on the tablet. I think that they will all have to be on the charger for a while, after this. But first, I think I need a shower and fresh clothes.”

So, we slowly returned to our normal life. Over the next couple of days, we were inundated with calls, texts, and emails. I had a nice talk with Sherona’s mother, who was telling me how much they had enjoyed the trip, and how much more focussed both girls now were, with firm ideas about the direction of their lives, having seen something of the world beyond their suburb. I told her that we would be having a garden party for just the Fan Club when we could organise it.

Agnes and her crew came around and we sat down for a snack, while being photographed. The interview included Jeff as well. There was one or two pictures of me and Agnes with our Oscar, one with her holding it that I was sure would be on her office wall before the week was out. I told her a bit about the next film, and some of the funny things that had happened in Tallahassee. I had some stills from the filming, which I gave her, but didn’t give away the plot. Her next issue had one of the stills on the cover, taken at the opening barbeque, with me and Kym. There were two articles: the story about my home life, and one about ‘Women’.

I had asked David about the Best Picture award, and he told me to either keep it, or take it to the agency and see if Jim wanted to put it on show. We took it to the agency, and the next time I went there it was on a shelf in the inner office, with pictures of all of us who are clients of the agency, which was quite a big portion of the main cast.

I didn’t have long to rest. David called to tell me that filming of ‘Gale’ would be in Cornwall in early March before the holiday crowds litter the backgrounds. The cottage was the Blackpool Mill holiday let, just back from the Abbey River Beach. It was perfect as a location, because there was a small headland with steep cliffs not far from it, with a large area behind that where we could land a helicopter.

David and some of the crew were staying in the cottage, some others were at the Hartland Quay, with us actors staying at the Anchor Inn in Hartland, itself. There was a field within walking distance of the Inn where we could keep the helicopter. As it was just Jeff, me, Cynthia, Eric, Jack, and Samantha, we could chopper to the site, film the scenes that we could, and chopper back for dinner.

We were lucky with the weather, cloudy but dry, which would fit in with the approaching storm. We also filmed some scenes in Hartland, of the family stocking up for the stay, and of Jeff, in uniform, outside the police station. It was actually only a white private house with a blue door and a ‘Police’ sign temporarily fixed. We completed all we could inside three weeks, with just the studio work to finish, although that was a lot of the filming still to do.

The set builders had made rooms in the studio, and had inventoried the same rooms in the cottage, so it would only take a few days to dress these, and we could run through all the scenes pretty quickly. Samantha came to stay with us while we did the studio work, which made it easier for her. She may look like a sex siren on screen, but, at heart, she was a normal girl with exceptional abilities. The two of us acted like sisters all the time, and it showed in the final print.

Eric was almost scary as the abusive father. C.J. had written some horrific scenes where he raged at all of his women. If there was any one role to bury the country copper image, this was it. Jack played evil like he was the devil incarnate, and Cynthia was so self-centred I expect that most who see the film will leave the cinema happy that they all got their just desserts. Jeff, as the country copper, took a lot of advice from Eric, and played the simple boy, with two girls wrapping him around their fingers to perfection. I could see the final film, in my mind, as we did each little segment.

We were at the studio, one day, when Tony came to the soundstage where we were and waited for us to finish what we were doing. He told us that ‘Women’ was completed, and that he would run a private viewing for us, even before Kym saw it, to see if we could pick any holes in it. He invited our entire crew to sit in to see what they thought. We all turned up, the next day, to see it. Colin took me, Samantha, Jeff, and Ruth, with Larry and Brendon in Brendon’s Jaguar.

Tony was on edge and had a soundstage with a load of chairs and a big screen. Once we were all seated, the lights went down, and the picture started. It opened, as we had planned, with Jeff coming out of the police station, getting in his car, and turning on the radio. The shock, for me, was when the title ‘Directed by’ came up and it listed both Tony and me. I saw David look over at me with a big grin.

As the action painted the pictures of the six genteel families and scions of the community, Eric playing the needy Chief beautifully, I could see the audience wondering where this was going. When the coven got together to cast a spell on the first victim, it changed the dynamic. The first murder was a shock, with the C.G.I. demon enough to make you want to close your eyes. That set the tone for the rest of it.

The car race and the crash was spectacular. I could see where Tony had used some shots from the first two cars, but the actual crash was all the third car. The scene with Jeff and Eric was better, in the actual office, than the screen tests. It finished with Kurt breaking into the room where all he finds is the empty gowns. He looks around at the closed windows and asks the final question, “Where did they go?” The song came back with the credits. Being all in the industry, we all watched the credits to see if we were there.

I stood up and went to Tony to give him a hug. Cynthia and Samantha followed. David shook his hand and then pulled him into a man-hug, telling him that he must take the Best Director next year or there was no justice in the world. With the lights up, Tony asked if anyone saw anything they wanted changing. Someone called out “I didn’t see much of the middle bit; I had my eyes shut!”

David came over to me.

“How much of that did you direct?”

“All the scenery shots, and everything that I wasn’t in front of the camera for.”

“Even the car crash?”

“Yes. I gave it to Tony, with just the takes that I liked marked, and he’s added the editing, the C.G.I. and the music. I have to hand it to him; I think a near-death experience has sharpened his vision of gothic horror. When he left Tallahassee, he was almost a walking skeleton.”

“Julia, this one has hit all over it. You seem to be touched with success whatever you do. I was planning to release ‘Gale’ later in the year, but, seeing this, I’m holding it back until early next year, taking the extra time to fine tune it and show it to the cinema owners. That will give this one a free ride into the Oscars and clearing the way for us the year after. Will you be filming the sequel?”

“Ah! The sequel. Kym has given it to me to do with as I want. I haven’t been too happy with what she’d written, and she’s decided to retire from the acting side. I might take some time off, seeing what I can do with it, but it will end up as an adaptation of an original screen play.”

“So, no Kym and Kurt sequel to this one. That’s interesting. I reckon that you could pare back the coven numbers and do something as dark as this one, but on a smaller budget. Do you have any ideas?”

“I was thinking that it would be in Kent, as Kym had envisioned, but I thought that I would have a few of the coven without the powers, setting the scene in Pluckley, where there’s already fifteen known ghosts. I’ve yet to think of the plot and ending. It might have to end with a single priest facing them down and C.G.I. angels appearing, with the witches erupting in a burst of flame.”

“Who will you cast?”

“If we set it as a possible sequel, we would have me, Cynthia, Moyra, Belle, Samantha, but no Wanda as I think that she’s now filming in Australia. Four witches would be enough to create a story. I’ve got a little bolthole in Palma, which I’ll use for some peace and quiet to work on it. Unless you have something else for me, I should have several months to see what I can do. It will be good to spend our winter in the sunshine.”

A lot of our crew came over to me to give me hugs and congratulate me on my part. Cecil had a grin on his face when he ribbed David that I should be given the chance to direct something of my own. So, I took a stab in the dark.

“Cecil, if you’ll be my cinematographer, and David shares the directing, do you think we can make a good film?”

Cecil looked at David, and David smiled.

“Show me that screenplay, when you’ve written it, Julia, and you might have a deal!”

When the crowd had left, I went to Tony and thanked him for showing us the film. He told me that he couldn’t hold it in any longer, and just needed to have the acceptance of his peers.

“That illness took it out of me, Julia. It was desperation that forced me to give up some of the control of the film. I’m glad I did, because you took it and improved my original vision, without altering the cinematography but getting more out of the cast. If we get the Best Director, we’ll go up for it, together.”

“That will be fun, Tony, but you will get to keep the statuette. They have an award for Editing, which you might be up for as well. David is giving you good chance. He’s going to hold the release of the film we’re on to next year. He’s really a fan of yours, I think, but is too shy to tell you.”

“Don’t tell him, but I’m a fan of his. While I was recuperating, I saw ‘Turbulence’ three times to see if I could pick any holes in it. It was his congratulations, today, that I was hoping for, and his hug was the best thing that’s happened to me for a long time. You guys deserved your Oscars, and you look like you may be better than both of us.”

“Thank you, Tony. I never thought that I would be a genuine celebrity, but I have a Fan Club, even if it did start as a school project.”

“I’ve had good looks at that site. Those schoolgirls have a lot of talent. I’d like to meet them, one day.”

“I’ll let you know when I organise a garden party. I’m going to do a Fan Club one in a couple of weeks. They’re lovely girls, we took them to the Oscars, and they had a picture with me holding Best Film on the website within hours of the event.”

“Which you ended up with, at home, I see.”

“It wasn’t planned. We found it in the boot of the car when we took the cases out. Did you read the article that Agnes organised? She has a picture of her with the statuette, no doubt on her office wall. She did do a nice piece on ‘Women’ which could help the pre-release reviews.”

“What did you think of the sequel?”

“Not too happy, but it doesn’t matter, now. Kym has given me her screenplay to work with as I wish. She won’t be in it.”

“Yes, she did tell me that she was thinking of pulling back. She deserves a rest, but I think Kurt has a few more years. I think I have a few more in me, but, if I get an Oscar, I might rest on my laurels.”

“Nobody will think badly of you if you do, Tony. You have a huge body of work and could take little trips on the celebrity circuit.”

We had another hug, and he unplugged his computer. I went back to our sound stage and joined a discussion about ‘Women’. The consensus was that it was going to be a huge hit, especially in America. We agreed to get back to work the next day, and all went home.

Samantha was quiet on the way back, so I asked her what was wrong.

“It was weird, Julia. I went into this film thinking I would come out as another femme fatal. But I ended up more fatal than ever before. I don’t know what that, and what we’re doing now, will do for my resume.”

“What it will do, Samantha, is to ensure that you’ll have a career after you turn twenty-five. It’s all right being a sex-kitten, but it’s not so good if that’s all they see you as, and then they don’t want you anymore once you start looking like just another cat. I might have an even more evil part for you, next year. You’ve shown that you can really act. I’ll bet you that you’ll be given a lot more screenplays to read over the next twelve months.”

Over the next few weeks, we finished off the main indoor scenes, and I organised the Fan Club party in June. It was a lovely evening, and I had laid on plenty of soft drink for the teens, beer for the fathers and wine for the mothers. I invited Cynthia and the others to join us, along with Eric, David, and their wives. I also invited Jim, Michael, and Jacquie. I’d had a quiet talk to Tony to bring along his laptop and had set up a big screen with sound bars hooked to the netting. We had enough chairs and tables to seat everyone. For food, the church group came to the party with a pig on a spit, salads and all the single-use tableware. When everyone had eaten, I stood up, while Tony went to his laptop.

“Fans, parents, and our other guests. Tonight, we are here to let off a little steam from the success of ‘Turbulence’. Since then, Cynthia, Moyra, Belle, and I spent some time in Florida, making another film. Also, in that film, we had Samantha Zeering playing my daughter, and Eric, everybody’s favourite policeman, playing the police chief. The film was directed, and edited, by Tony Hampton. All are here, tonight, and would be happy to talk to you. What we’re about to see, as a very private screening, is the final cut of that film. It hasn’t had a reviewer screening, and the premiere is still a few weeks away. I will warn you, some of the scenes are scary, but integral to the story. It is also the screen debut of Jeff, my husband.”

I sat down, Tony hit the go button, and we sat and watched ’13 Women’ on the big screen. The food and drinks were forgotten as the film unfolded. The demons brought squeals from some of the girls. The car race sequence brought oohs from the guys, and the scene with Jeff and Eric almost brought the house down. At the end, there was applause and a rush to talk about it.

It was a great evening, with Jim giving me a big hug before leaving with Belle. The Fan Club girls were amazed that Tony didn’t have a fan site, so promised to set one up. They gave him an email address and he promised to send them some pictures for it. Samantha got the same treatment. Eric was a magnet for fans telling him that he was now an even bigger hero, and that they would watch his series with a new appreciation of his acting. The church group were very happy, as they tidied up the food preparation. We had some large slices of the pig wrapped in clingwrap for our fridge, with Ruth overseeing that.

There were a lot of pictures taken, but I asked that none which had the picture in it should be on the websites before the premiere, but they would be able to beat the newspapers to the punch that night. When Michael left, with his wife, he told me that this film will cement my place in the list of stars. He had taken note of the directing credit and wondered just how far I would be climbing over the next few years. I asked Jacquie if she could stay a few days, as there was some things that I wanted her to organise. I took her into the house, showed her the spare room, then took her through to the master to find her a nightie and gown.

When everyone had left, we closed the gates, and we sat around the kitchen table with mugs of hot chocolate. There would be a crew coming in, in the morning, to clear the party area and pack away the furniture. I had been impressed with the screen and sound; it had worked very well. I had the feeling that the evening had been a turning point in my life. I could now move on with other projects. In a couple of weeks ‘Gale’ would be in post-production and there was a complete crew with just some advertising work to keep them going. What I needed was another project.

Next morning, Jacquie came into the studio with us, and we talked between takes. I wanted her to see what screenplays have been sent in and read them through.

“I want a story, not just a piece of fluff. If you finish it and think that you’ve just read a book, that’s the one I want to see. I’ve had one, for ages, and I looked at it, but it didn’t do anything for me. I’ll give it to you to take back to the office. It was by a respected team but had no substance. You can tell them I said that if they ask. They only have to see ‘Women’ and ‘Gale’ to know what I like.”

“All right, Julia. I can do that. I do like reading, and I know what you mean. I’ve read some novels, lately, that seem to be rushed at the end, as if the author can’t think of any more to say or had reached the editorial deadline.”

Marianne Gregory © 2024